Govt designates Indian Navy responsible for maritime security

MY NEWS

 http://www.mynews.in/News/Govt_designates_Indian_Navy_responsible_for_maritime_security_N46877.html

New Delhi: The Government has designated the Indian Navy as the agency responsible for overall maritime security, including coastal security of the country, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

The Indian Navy, the Coast Guards, State Marine Police and other Central and State agencies work in coordination for the coastal security and to deal with threats of vulnerable targets, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said in a written reply.

He said the measures instituted in this regard include enhanced surface and air surveillance along with coastal exercises by Indian Navy ships and aircraft along the coast and in all offshore development areas, including those on the east coast of India.

India launches first anti-submarine corvette

 IBN LIVE

 http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-launches-first-antisubmarine-corvette/113602-3.html?from=trending

Kolkata/New Delhi: India on Monday launched its first anti-submarine warfare corvette that will boost Navy's fighting capability when commissioned in 2012.

According to officials, the corvette, Yard 3017, was launched by Mamatha M, wife of Minister of State of Defence M M Pallam Raju, at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.

"Four ships of this class are under construction at GRSE, Kolkata. The first ship is expected to be commissioned by mid-2012 and will be closely followed by the other three ships with the last expected to be commissioned by early 2015," a naval official said.

The corvette, a small fast-moving ship, was ordered in 2003 and the production is delayed by two years.

The official said the 3,100-tonnage ship would be fitted with the latest indigenously developed sonars to detect submarines.

"The torpedo tubes, and scutter (torpedo decoys) launchers contribute to its anti-submarine punch. In addition, the ship will also be equipped with vertically launched Point Defence Missile System (PDMS) and Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS) such as AK 30's and Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM)," the official added.

"The ship is also equipped with decoy system Kavach, which is designed to counter the threat of various anti-ship missiles," he said.

At present the Indian Navy does not have any anti-submarine corvettes. It had some Russian corvettes, which were decommissioned long ago.

For anti-submarine operations, navy uses bigger ships like frigates and destroyers.

Sino-Indian war records 'top secret', says govt

 PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/616820_Sino-Indian-war-records--top-secret---says-govt

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) The government today refused to make public an Army study on the 1962 war debacle with China, saying the internal report was "top secret" and "extremely sensitive".

Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha that the Henderson Brooks Report had "current operational value".

Asked by Congress member Manish Tewari if the report would be made public, the minister replied in the negative.

"Henderson Brooks Report is a TOP SECRET document, based on an internal study by the Indian Army, contents of which are not only extremely sensitive, but are of current operational value," Antony said in a written reply.

However, on the 1947 Indo-Pak war, the Defence Minister said the official historical record had been compiled and it was in the public domain since 1987.

ELEPHANT WAKING UP

INDIAN DECADE

http://the-diplomat.com/indian-decade/2010/04/20/elephant-waking-up/

While the Chinese dragon has been hissing in recent months through its aggressive incursions into Indian territory and its warning to the Indian leadership over issues like Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama, the Indian elephant is now showing signs of gradually shrugging off its complacence. New Delhi has many China-centric strategic projects in the pipeline, but I’ll focus on just one of the many long-term measures it is taking with China in mind.

The Government of India has sanctioned raising two mountain divisions (one division has roughly 10,000 troops) to be deployed along the India-China border. More significantly, New Delhi has for the first time lifted its 37-year-old freeze on fresh recruitment for the China-specific mountain division. The proposed two mountain divisions will be in addition to the two presently deployed two divisions of the Indian Army. These two new divisions are much needed for better patrolling of the 4,057-kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, and they would help the Indian Army plug gaping operational gaps. As there is no properly demarcated border between the two Asian giants, the LAC is the effective border between India and China. The LAC traverses three parts of Indian states: the west (Ladakh, Kashmir), the centre (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and east (Sikkim, Arunachal).

In another move, the Indian government has also decided to fast track the process of procuring specialized weaponry needed for mountain warfare. The Indian Army’s plans are to procure at least 200 Howitzer guns, which can be carried on horseback or in choppers (depending on local operational requirements) for lending teeth to the remotest posts in these rugged mountains.

Nightmare 2012: Chinese Special Forces cut off Siliguri corridor

SIFY NEWS

I  WONDER : EXCELLENT !!!  MUST READ THEM ALL....

India has the potential to be to Asia what America is to the world - a symbol of hope, liberty and freedom.

Closed societies like China or Pakistan do not fit the bill. Due to authoritarian regimes in Beijing and Islamabad, in times to come they will remain preoccupied with growing internal societal turmoil.

Therefore, they will naturally tend to threaten democratic India, militarily and with the help of their irregular forces to divert attention from the brewing internal storm. Also because on one hand, the Indian democracy negates their authoritarian philosophy, and on the other, the Union is perceived as a soft target to be conquered or ruptured.

But technology driven 21st century cannot be China’s century in Asia as is being touted by its proxy Pakistan or the Chinese themselves. Simply because these are very brittle, regressive and perpetually paranoid societies. Societies that cannot sustain such enlarged influence and get into an over reach. While the People’s Liberation Army, the largest in the world, consists of 3.5 million soldiers to project power, Beijing employs whopping 21 million to police internal dissent.

Military threat from such dictatorial regimes to free societies like India will increase as the western democracies retreat from Asia. There already exists a severe trust deficit between China and the small countries in the region.

India is the perhaps the only country in Asia that can boast of the potential to occupy the strategic high ground gradually being vacated by the retreating western forces, provided it develops offensive orientation at the political level.

Unlike China, its soft power increasingly impacts on Asia. The young demographic profile will continue to propel Indian economy to greater heights at least till end of 2050. China’s ageing profile shows trends that it will, first grow old then rich, unlike Japan, which grew rich then old. India if governed fairly well, will grow rich and then old like Japan.

India’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society is the melting pot in Asia that benefits from rich diversity and open society. However, it is not as fortunate to be situated geographically in a safe haven like America, which is surrounded by nations with similar values.

READ THE COMPLETE WRITEUP HERE:

http://sify.com/news/Nightmare-2012-Chinese-Special-Forces-take-Siliguri-news-kerrLlchfeb.html 

OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS :

http://sify.com/news/why-pak-china-will-win-news-columns-kccrKIdjcgf.html 
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2009/11/the-big-picture.html 
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2008/06/threat-from-china.html 

Antony asks forces to counter cyber attacks

 REDIFF NEWS

 

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/16/antony-asks-forces-to-repel-cyber-attacks.htm

 

In the wake of reports of Chinese hackers stealing vital data from Indian defence and diplomatic computer networks, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Friday asked the armed forces to coordinate closely with other cyber security agencies to prepare a crisis management action plan against cyber terrorism. The minister noted that cyber-space had emerged as an important medium for information sharing, but at the same time the existing technology was susceptible to misuse by anti-social and anti-national elements."Of late, extraordinary and unprecedented cyber crimes have taken place across the globe, exposing gap holes in cyber security systems," Antony told the armed forces Unified Commanders' Conference in New Delhi
"Although the defence services at all levels have taken steps to counter cyber threat through stringent implementation of cyber security policy, there is still a requirement to ensure that all loopholes are suitably plugged. A few recent cases are reminders of our own vulnerabilities," he said.
Close interaction with national agencies like Computer and Emergency Response Team, NTRO, Home and IT ministries to prepare a crisis management action plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism is essential, he said inaugurating the conference. Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army Chief General V K Singh, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Chief of Integrated Staff Committee Air Marshal S C Mukul were also present on the occasion.
Expressing happiness over the progress made to improve jointness among armed forces in various spheres, Antony said increasing involvement of Integrated Defence Service headquarters in defence issues, the functioning of Andaman and Nicobar Command and the progress of Strategic Forces Command were a few examples of the success of the inter-operability concept.
He said the future of optimal military power lay in joint operations. "Towards this end, the first-ever Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan for 2012–27 is nearing completion under the aegis of IDS headquarters. Once finalised, it would be yet another milestone in our progress towards jointness," he said.

SBI launches defence salary package for Indian Air Force

BUSINESS STANDARD

 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sbi-launches-defence-salary-package-for-indian-air-force/91487/on

The State Bank of India (SBI) today launched a defence salary package for the Indian Air Force with an array of concessional services such as zero balance accounts, interest rate concessions on loans, preferential allotment of lockers and free mobile banking.

"I recommit that SBI would serve the very best we can," SBI chairman O P Bhatt said at the launch of the product here.

The package includes free drafts and free cheque books and provides for free funds transfers to any of the State Bank Group's network of almost 16,000 branches or any other bank in India, besides free ATM cards and other features.

SBI further said that it plans to add 5,000 ATMs to its existing count of 20,000, which will benefit more than one lakh Air Force personnel, as the bank intends to establish a large number of ATMs to serve Air Force formations.

The package enables Air Force personnel to open zero balance accounts with an unique lifetime account number, valid even after retirement, and offers free mobile banking services, preferential allotment of lockers and interest rate concessions on home, car and personal loans, among others.

"The bank's network of business correspondents appointed in unbanked rural areas will also be available for the basic banking requirement of the Air Force personnel and their families," SBI said.

Speaking on the occasion, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik said, "I hope SBI would meet the expectations of defence personnel," adding that he would urge the SBI chairman to translate it into a reality at the earliest.

A similar package was announced for Army and Navy personnel earlier.

Safeguard yourself from credit card frauds

In recent times, there have been a spate of news items revealing a credit card fraud. In one such item, two youngsters were caught duping credit card holders by offering them new credit cards with higher credit limits by trading in their old credit cards. The youngsters then used the old cards to make their purchases, mostly electronics. This is how they laid the plot. 

They would call up credit card holders representing themselves as employees of the credit card company. They would inform these clueless customers about a new scheme about new credit cards with greater purchase limits in exchange of old ones. Then they would also inform customers that the company's representative would soon visit them with the new card, which would be activated as soon as they filled in a form! 

This news only reinstates the importance of being a vigilant customer and using credit cards with utmost prudence. Here are a few things one can do:

1. If you lose your credit card, it is necessary to inform your credit card company immediately. This will enable the card issuer to freeze the card with immediate effect and prevent any purchases on the card. The important thing for you is that your liability is limited once you inform the credit card issuer. 

2. Destroy your old card completely before you begin using your new card. This is important even if your old card has expired or you are upgrading your card.

3. Keep your card in a safe place and do not allow other people to handle it. 

4. Be prudent about signing up for new offers. Double-check the genuineness of the scheme. A simple way to verify genuineness of any scheme is to call up the credit card company and inquiring with them.

5. Change your PIN at regular intervals. Do not use obvious PIN like birth dates.

6. Inform your credit card company immediately if you do not receive your monthly credit statement. It could be a case of identity theft where the fraudster has changed your billing address. 

7. Use chip based credit cards. These cards offer better security than credit cards with black magnetic stripes. This is because in a chip based card, all information is stored in the small chip in encrypted format and it also uses a PIN. This makes changing or copying this data extremely difficult. 

8. So, the chance of data being misused while swiping the card is very remote. It is the highest level of security that credit card companies can offer at present. Citibank and Kotak Mahindra issue chip based cards to select high range customers. Axis bank's VISA Platinum card is also chip-based. HDFC Bank also has begun issuing these cards.

9. Be careful while shopping online. This is because you are required to give the CVV number for making purchases over the Internet. For this, be sure you shop only from secure websites. Ensure that the website is certified by VeriSign. Look for a yellow lock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

10. If you have a large credit limit on your card and use it frequently for several purchases including online and telephone purchases, it is a good idea to get your card insured. You cannot prevent credit card fraud but at least minimize its impact on your financial stability! You can protect yourself from fraudulent charges on your card up to 12 hours before reporting the loss to the credit card issuer.

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/loans_basics/75/safeguard-yourself-from-credit-card-frauds/